Devices to locate people, pets, or objects have been used for many years. For years, airplanes have had black box recorders installed that emit homing beacons. Electromagnetic systems that triangulate to the location of an object have been around for decades. Loran is an example of such a system. Most home based portable radio telephones have paging systems, such that if a PAGE/FIND button is pressed on the base unit, the hand-held unit beeps. More recently, global positioning satellites (GPS), cellular telephone towers, and wireless networks have been used to locate moving and non-moving targets. Locating devices use the following different technologies:                emergency homing beacon continuous transmission;        activation of receivers at fixed locations in a network;        triangulation using a private wireless network;        triangulation using a public switched telephone system;        triangulation using a cellular telephone system;        location using GPS and other satellites;        acoustic signal transmitters and receivers; and,        electromagnetic signal transmitters and receivers (RF, light, etc.)        
Standard automobile keyless entry systems are multi-function hand-held units that come equipped with a small radio frequency transmitter. When a LOCATE or PANIC button is pressed, a receiver unit is activated in the vehicle, and typically the lights flash and the horn sounds. Many motorists press this button to find their vehicles in parking lots and garages. However, not only are the flashing lights and loud horn annoying, but locating a vehicle in this way could also be dangerous. Passers-by often hear the horn blasting and ignore it. However, stalkers might wait by a car whose horn and lights have been so activated so as to snare the unsuspecting motorist. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a hand-held device where the only indication of the vehicle location is on the device itself. A PANIC button is a separate function altogether.
The most desirable locator system would be inexpensive and would comprise a target unit mounted in the vehicle and a hand-held remote mobile unit. Pressing a button on the hand-held unit should activate the target unit, and readouts on the hand-held unit should indicate both the direction and the distance to the target. The system should provide complete privacy.
GPS, cellular, and other wireless systems currently exist that can accomplish this function, but they are expensive. A vehicle locator device of interest is described in a patent granted to Adam Jacobs (U.S. Pat. No. 6,580,368-Jun. 17, 2003). The device described in this patent displays a beam of light above the vehicle when activated by a signal from a hand-held remote. This is especially useful for finding a vehicle in fog or mist where a light beam extends into the mist However, even though the horn does not sound, vehicle location with this device is not private. Lawrence D. Rosenthal invented an ACOUSTIC FINDING SYSTEM (U.S. Pat. No. 6,573,833-Jun. 2, 2003) wherein a lost item can be found by having at least two nearly identical locators. The lost item (such as a key) is attached to one such device. The available locator broadcasts to the lost one an acoustic search signal with a sequence of tones having predetermined frequency differences between them. The second locator then emits a sound or a light beacon. If used on a vehicle, this patent does not teach how to maintain privacy.
An invention of particular interest is one by Yeh, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,529,142-Mar. 4, 2003) for a PARKED VEHICLE LOCATION FINDER. The hand-held device in Yeh is activated by a button that causes a radio frequency beam to be transmitted to a unit mounted in the vehicle. Both the hand-held mobile unit and the vehicle target unit comprise a digital compass and altimeter. Both units can sense their orientation with respect to true north. When activated, the target unit signals the mobile unit as to which direction to turn to find the vehicle. Directional lights illuminate on the mobile unit, and change with changes in the orientation of the mobile unit. The digital altimeters are used to determine the elevation of the vehicle with respect to the motorist. It will sense when the vehicle is above or below the motorist on a different floor. However, it cannot indicate a distance to the target, and the use of a digital compass and altimeter in both units add to the expense of the system.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive radio frequency system comprising a hand-held remote unit and a target unit, that will operate in an unlicensed freely available band of the radio spectrum, and that will provide a visual indication of direction and approximate distance to the target. It is also an object to insure privacy by allowing only the hand-held unit to visually indicate target location. No audible signals should sound. It is an additional object to allow the target unit to move slowly while being tracked and still permit location of the target. It is a further object of the present invention to be suitable for outdoor use, and independent of GPS systems, cellular telephone systems, Loran, and any other system with a large infrastructure.